


Fireworks At Midnight

by extraordinary



Series: Pining For Gold [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: (Implied) Homophobic Themes, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous Feelings, M/M, Makoto/OFC, Spoilers for 'At First Click'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 14:27:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7644538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extraordinary/pseuds/extraordinary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haruka doesn't make these kind of gestures often, but something about the way Nagisa is gazing up at the fireworks tonight — so radiantly, and completely untroubled — makes him want to make a little more of an effort.</p><p>(A.K.A.: Six birthdays Nagisa and Haruka spend together, one way or another.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fireworks At Midnight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CacophonyOfWords](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CacophonyOfWords/gifts).



> This is a companion piece to [At First Click](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7212988?view_full_work=true), written in honour of Nagisa's birthday. It should offer a little more insight into Haruka & Nagisa's 'it's complicated!' relationship in AFC, without giving any of the main plot points away — although it probably won't make much sense as a standalone story.

**_Friday evening, August 1, 2008:_ **

"Nagisa?"

A shivering mess of curly blonde hair, tightly clenched fingers and bony elbows has got to be the very last thing Haruka'd been expecting to find on his doorstep. On a Friday evening. At 11:31 PM.

For an embarrassingly long moment, Haruka isn't even sure the small figure currently huddled into a ball in front of him really _does_ belong to his younger friend. He's never seen _Hazuki Nagisa_ — bright-eyed troublemaker extraordinaire — look anything like this before. He can't even recall a time he'd ever seen Nagisa cry. Not even once.

"H-Haru-chan...?"

Haruka distantly hears himself make some kind of noise of agreement in response. There's already a whole queue of questions neatly lining themselves up at the back of his mind, but Nagisa probably doesn't need to be bombarded with any of those just yet. At least it doesn't look like he's been hurt. Physically.

Pointedly sliding the front door open as far as it'll go, Haruka moves aside to let his unexpected visitor shuffle past him. "I'll draw you a bath," He decides, for want of anything else to offer. "That always makes me feel better."

Nagisa doesn't even glance up before toeing his ridiculously bright-coloured shoes off and wordlessly making his way further into the house, though.

It's _weird_.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Haruka successfully manages to manoeuvre an increasingly unresponsive Nagisa into a lukewarm bath: one that should be just about warm enough to have a relaxing effect on his friend, without the risk of it feeling too stifling in the mid-summer heat. As an afterthought, he then motions for Nagisa to unroll about 2/3rds of the plastic bath cover. Mainly because the action allows a tray of fresh iced tea to be placed on top of it (within easy reach for both of them). Although it has the added benefit of forming a convenient barrier between the two unsettled occupants of the bathroom, as well.

Steeling himself, Haruka reluctantly gives voice to the most pressing question: "Do your parents know you're here?"

As expected, Nagisa instantly shoots him a betrayed — and absolutely heartbreaking — look. "You're not going to tell them, are you?" He half-asks, half-begs. "You can't do that, Haru-chan. I don't have anywhere else to _go_...!"

Startled by the speed and vehemence of Nagisa's response, Haruka is forced to relent. For now. "Not without hearing you out first," He promises. Then, choosing his words very carefully, he adds: "Aren't they going to get worried soon, though?"

Nagisa hurriedly looks away again. "They don't care about _me_ ," He tells Haruka, then, in an unusually resigned tone of voice. "Just about their plans for me, y'know? It's all so... so... _fake..._ and I'm not even sure I can be the person they want me to be anymore. I'm finally eighteen now, aren't I? I should get to decide who I am myself!"

Haruka hesitantly drags the wooden stool over to the foot of the tub (and awkwardly makes himself comfortable on it), before attempting to settle on a proper reply. "You _should_ ," He agrees. It's a no-brainer, to be honest. "All right. If you really don't want me to, then I won't tell them you're here." _For now._

For the first time that evening, Nagisa meets his eyes. "Really?"

Haruka nods. Then, on nothing but a whim, he says: "You can stay as long as you need to, Nagisa."

The Nanase residence is kind of starting to feel incredibly empty, anyway. Makoto's lingering warmth is fading (far too rapidly for comfort), and there are plenty of little nooks and crannies to be filled these days. Haruka could probably use a little help there, if he's being entirely honest with himself.

What's the harm?

It's not like it'll be _permanent_.

 

* * *

 

**_Saturday evening, August 1, 2009:_ **

"Happy birthday, Nagisa."

Nagisa doesn't appear to be capable of tearing his eyes away from the veritable explosion of colours in the sky above them just yet. But he _does_ manage to reach out for Haruka's nearest hand (where it's resting, just a hair's away breadth from Nagisa's thigh, on the wooden beams of the porch), at the very least.

They're all alone out here.

Makoto is down at the beach with _'the R-chans'_ : Ren-chan, Ran-chan, and Risa-chan — the latter of which, unsurprisingly, had taken one look at Nagisa's snack collection in the kitchen and promptly decided the two of them would get along like a house on fire. Haruka sincerely hopes they don't _actually_ set the house on fire any time soon. The cheerful Takahashi Risa is an even worse cook than her perpetually-useless-in-the-kitchen boyfriend, after all.

Makoto sure knows how to land himself a keeper, doesn't he?

Either way. With Risa out of the house for the evening, there isn't anything stopping Haruka from pulling Nagisa's hand into his lap and sliding their fingers together into a loose grip. Both of their palms are a little on the sweaty side, though.

Still, it feels pretty _nice_.

Grounding.

Familiar.

And a little exhillerating, too.

Haruka doesn't make these kind of gestures often, but something about the way Nagisa is gazing up at the fireworks tonight — so radiantly, and completely untroubled — makes him want to make a little more of _an effort_.

It pays off, too: Nagisa finally squeezes back, and soon he's even obligingly leaning closer to rest his head on Haruka's proffered shoulder. "What a difference a year makes," He suddenly says, then, in an unexpectedly solemn tone of voice. "Thank you, Haru-chan."

Haruka makes a non-committal little noise in the back of his throat, in favour of forming a real response. He doesn't feel like he deserves to be given any credit for things that are completely out of his hands. And he's never needed to be thanked for any of the things that _do_ happen to be within his control, either.

Undeterred, Nagisa simply continues on: "This isn't even the only joyous occasion, though! Aren't we going to celebrate our anniversary at all? It'd be such a shame not to take advantage of the timing, too. It's our _first_ , you know?"

Despite himself, Haruka rolls his eyes. "You know we can't. Makoto will be dropping Risa off soon."

It's impossible to tell for sure from his vantage point, but Haruka is pretty sure Nagisa is pouting very dramatically. "You're such a spoilsport, Haru-chan," He complains. Very loudly. "I'm getting real tired of beating off on my own. _Meanie_."

Haruka scoffs. "You're incorrigible."

Nagisa merely pretends not to have heard Haruka's (pathetically weak) admonishment. He then lets gravity drag him down until he's flat on his back — with his head pillowed on one of Haruka's crossed legs — and peers up at Haruka with an unexpectedly frank expression. "Maybe," He says. "But you love me anyway, right?"

Caught completely off guard as he is, Haruka can only be honest: "Right."

Regardless of Haruka's sincerity, Nagisa still scrunches his face up in mock-annoyance. "That couldn't have been any _less_ romantic if you'd actually tried, Haru-chan."

Haruka quickly leans down to kiss the ridiculously exaggerated pout right off of Nagisa's impossibly soft lips.

 

* * *

 

_**Sunday evening, August 1, 2010.** _

They're out on the porch again.

According to the neon display lighting up the centre of Nagisa's watch, it's currently 11:59 PM.

Makoto and Risa are in Tokyo. And there aren't any fireworks, this time, either. Although that's probably a blessing, in and of itself, because Nagisa had brought home _three whole packages of sparklers_ only a couple of days prior.

They're sitting close enough for Haruka to be able to make out his own reflection in Nagisa's eyes. His hands are cupping either side of Nagisa's face, and his thumbs are lightly digging into the corners of Nagisa's smiling mouth. Nagisa's breath smells very strongly of the strawberry ice cream he'd just finished devouring. It's sweet. Cloying. And a little bit addictive.

At midnight, Haruka nudges him down to the floorboards.

Once there, they kiss, and kiss, and _kiss_.

Until Nagisa's mouth is so swollen it looks like it's covered in lipstick (and the inside of his mouth is beginning to taste a whole lot more like Haruka's toothpaste instead of ice cream and out-of-season tangerines), and it feels like something deep inside of Haruka's chest is threatening to ignite.

 

* * *

 

_**Monday evening, August 1, 2011:** _

It's not quite midnight yet.

They'd abandoned the porch in favour of Haruka's bedroom shortly after dusk _._ And he's pretty sure he'd forgotten to turn the lights off before heading upstairs, but it hardly matters anymore.

Nagisa is panting. Rather loudly so.

There are words, too, but Haruka can't seem to make any of them out. It's hard, and it's _fast_ , and so unlike anything they've ever done before that it's all kind of starting to make Haruka's head spin a little. The skin of his back feels like it's on fire (courtesy of the summer heat, as well as Nagisa's nails insistently raking up and down the length of his spine).

It hurts.

It feels _good_.

When they're done, Haruka doesn't feel up to wishing Nagisa a happy birthday. And Nagisa doesn't ask him to, either.

They're not exactly in a festive mood, after all.

 

* * *

 

_**Thursday morning, August 2, 2012:** _

They're _all_ out on the porch this year: Makoto, _'the R-team'_ (even though Ren and Ran should probably be heading to bed soon), Kisumi, Nagisa _,_ and Haruka, himself, of course.

It's 3:26 AM, though.

Nagisa had somehow managed to talk the entire group into watching an online stream of the Olympics in London, and the 200M breaststroke final is about to start. Japan actually stands a fairly good chance to secure another Olympic medal this time around. They have two incredibly promising swimmers in the running: Tateishi Ryou and Kitajima Kousuke (who'd already proven himself to be very capable by grabbing the gold in Beijing).

Haruka doesn't really _care_ , though.

He's not even all that interested in the men's 100M freestyle final, to be honest. He'd much rather make off with Makoto's keys to the pool and get some laps of his own in instead, you know? There's only one professional swimmer he's been actively keeping an eye on, anyway.

Either way, he obligingly lets Nagisa make himself comfortable against his chest with very little protest. Nagisa pauses to squeeze one of his ankles, then excitedly swivels his head around: "Who are _you_ rooting for this time, Haru-chan?"

"No one."

Somewhere on Haruka's left side, Makoto and Kisumi chuckle in undisguised amusement. But it's Risa who speaks up, next. Her engagement ring sparkles noticeably as she gestures exasperatedly towards the screen of Nagisa's laptop. "I think I'm starting to develop a little crush on Tateishi-senshu's eyebrows. When is this thing supposed to start, again?"

Kisumi makes a faux-thoughtful noise in response so that. "I'm torn," He announces eventually, "That five o'clock shadow isn't anything to scoff at, either."

To his utter surprise, Haruka finds himself smiling at their ridiculous antics.

It's _nice_.

He's happy. And he's fairly certain Nagisa is, as well. For now.

 

* * *

 

_**Friday morning, August 2, 2013:** _

It's late.

Or _early_.

Whatever.

This time, they're in Nagisa's bed.

Haruka is loosely curled around a visibly sated _—_ yet undeniably sore, and a little twitchy _—_ Nagisa, who stubbornly keeps tinkering with the volume of Haruka's phone all the way through the breathtaking race they're watching together. On the tiny screen in front of them, a terribly pixelated version of Matsuoka Rin narrowly misses out on the gold.

Nagisa is the first to speak up: "D'you want to wait until he gets up on the podium?"

Haruka shakes his head. Then belatedly realises Nagisa can't actually _see_ him do so. "You've got work in a few hours," He says. "Let's just go to bed. He'll be up on the podium again this weekend."

Nagisa makes an unhappy noise, but cooperatively slides the phone underneath his pillow. Haruka rewards him by pressing a series of open-mouthed kisses to the back of Nagisa's neck, then drags Nagisa just a little closer, and buries his nose in soft hair at the top of Nagisa's head.

Just as Haruka is about to nod off, Nagisa abruptly rolls around to face him in the dark. "Hey, Haru-chan?"

Haruka grunts, squinting at Nagisa's vague outline through one blearily opened eye.

"I'm really glad I ended up on your doorstep that day."

**Author's Note:**

> I promise all the confusing things — like Nagisa referencing their first anniversary, when exactly a year before they're clearly _not_ sleeping together yet — will make sense once everything is revealed in At First Click. Just roll with it for now, OK? ;)
> 
> Four little things I don't mind elaborating on, though:  
> 1) Nagisa moved in with Haruka due to his parents' homophobia (there's a lot more backstory there that will be explored in AFC).  
> 2) In 2009, Risa stays with Haruka & Nagisa because the Tachibanas' house isn't quite big enough to accommodate everyone. I just couldn't figure out how to drop that in there without making it sound like a slight against them. By 2012, Makoto and Risa have moved into a place of their own.  
> 3) Kisumi is the centre of the universe. As in, he knows just about everyone in this 'verse. Including Rin.  
> 4) Haruka and Nagisa don't actually know who they've been talking to on X-SPOT. At least not _for sure_. *zips mouth shut!*


End file.
